


let us examine the holiday spirit

by imgoingtocrash



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, Future Fic, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Rated T for Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-03 23:36:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5311385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imgoingtocrash/pseuds/imgoingtocrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Walter thinks it’s fitting somehow, as they stand in a circle looking at what was once mistletoe, that they’d all be brought together by crowding around a smoking pile of Christmas tradition."</p><p>Or, Walter remembers that Paige makes the holidays infinitely better, and Toby chases Happy around the garage with mistletoe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	let us examine the holiday spirit

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I not only had this written before December started, but that I'm posting it within the first week of December. Apparently I need some Christmas in my life.
> 
> This fic did good things for my pre-exam stressed soul. I had this idea in the tags of this post (http://imgoingtocrash.tumblr.com/post/133581900974/wintersoldeirs-important-otp-christmas) and couldn’t let it go. As I said in the tags, it’s a sort-of future fic. Just a point in time where both couples are established. 
> 
> The title is from Here It Is Christmas Time by Old 97s, also the song from the Christmas episode in Season 1.

Walter notices the second Paige starts decorating for the holidays.

It starts with a few lights, flashing on and off in his peripheral vision everywhere he turns in the garage. Then it escalates to a wreath on the door to his loft and tinsel stapled to their desks at every possible empty space. There aren’t any mechanical Santas, though, so he considers it a downgrade from her first attempt.

The geniuses still don’t really believe in the spirit of the holiday, but Paige makes it better for them. He even made sure that everyone got her gifts to give in return, good, thoughtful ones, and no, it’s (mostly) not just because he’s making out with her on a weekly basis.

So, all in all, he’s content to deal with the holiday cheer decorating both his living space and workplace if it means he gets to see someone he cares about light up like the tiny Christmas tree decorating her desk. (He’s railed against calling it love for a very long time. He didn’t want to say something he didn’t believe to be real. Whatever it is, whatever he calls it, she is patient and understanding and it’s part of the reason they’re doing this at all, he thinks.)

That is, of course, until he notices the mistletoe. Or, more aptly, he sees Toby slamming Happy against doorways by the lips in a very un-professional colleagues sort of way.

He’s eased off of his views on workplace relationships for the sake of not being a hypocrite, but that doesn’t mean they’re all comfortable with gratuitous PDA in the middle of the office.

This is followed by Happy running around the garage all morning with her eyes trained above her or on Toby in a fixed glare. Walter finally decides to say something when she bumps into him as she dashes under a doorway, almost sloshing a cup of coffee all over the floor in her haste.

“Toby,” he calls, stopping Happy from leaving the conversation with a light hand in front of her shoulder.

She continues looking at Toby as he crosses the room with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Yeah, Walt?”

“Is there a reason that you’re suddenly so into the holiday spirit this morning?”

Toby’s smile gets even bigger. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, give me a damn break!” Happy shouts, clearly no longer entertained by Toby’s antics.

As happy as Walter has seen them together, their spats seem to be a never ending part of their relationship. Walter simply gives Toby a look to show that he’s neither impressed or entertained, which causes Toby to roll his eyes and huff out. “It’s tradition, Walter! Besides, it’s not like she’s exactly throwing me off…”

Happy’s cheeks redden slightly, but it doesn’t stop the pinched look of vague anger on her face.

“The tradition of mistletoe is about fertility and made-up magical properties. Just like half of the other Christmas traditions, it’s a bunch of nonsense turned into capitalism and commercialism. Not to mention the ridiculous expectation that a woman wasn’t allowed to refuse the kiss for a number of antiquated social reasons. And the greek mythology about the kisses under a plant meaning protection from harm and—“ Walter is only part way through his diatribe about Christmas when he’s interrupted by a pair of familiar lips on his own.

Paige, face red from the mildly chilly LA weather, smiles up at him before walking off to shed her coat and scarf at her desk.

“Paige Dineen, this mistletoe may just be the best idea you’ve ever had. Truly, if they don’t categorize you as a genius soon, it’ll be a damn shame!” Toby says, clearly pleased to have missed out on a classic Walter O’Brien rant. “Do you have any other good tactics to stop Walter from being a wet blanket? Should I take notes?”

Paige joins them under the doorway again, rolling her eyes and lightly slapping Toby in the arm in her usual motherly way.

Walter looks down at her inquisitively. “All of this was your idea?” His eyes search the garage, finding more sprigs of the partially parasitic plant than at first glance.

She leans against his arm slightly, stating “I believe my exact words were ‘one or two, for fun’ not ’10 different ways to torture your fellow co-workers.’”

Toby rocks his head back and forth as if they’ve all deeply disappointed him by ruining his mistletoe terror, but relents by grabbing a chair and pulling the mistletoe above their heads down.

When he reaches the ground once more, Toby grins, holding the mistletoe over Happy again and speaking in an exaggerated tone. “Oh _no_ , it looks like it’s over us _again_! Guess I’ll just have to get one more out of you.”

Happy grumpily seems to relent, leaning in, only to grab the plant out of Toby’s hand and run across the room to her workspace. She yells “I’m getting my blowtorch!” as she jumps onto her workbench to hold the mistletoe out of Toby’s grasp.

“Happy, no!” Toby cries, reaching for Happy’s feet only to have his hat kicked off.

“Happy, yes, you sappy son of a bitch!” Happy, seeming to have located her blowtorch, jumps to the ground and bursts into a run.

Walter doesn’t realize that he’s watching Paige more than the scene of Happy and Toby chasing each other around the garage with an open flame until she looks up at him.

“We should probably stop them before they set something on fire,” She remarks, leaning into Walter’s shoulder a little more comfortably and he finds his arm automatically snaking around her shoulders. “Again.”

He nods without really thinking about the motion, bumping his chin against the side of her head. He feels her cold hand against the outside of his shirt and thinks of how comfortable he is standing here, how used to her in his space he has become.

She lifts her head to look at him with a small smile. “I thought you said that the only things worth learning were math and science.” It takes him a moment to realize where the topic is coming from. “The mistletoe thing. It was a very detail-filled rant.”

He shrugs, dodging her gaze slightly before deciding the truth isn’t even embarrassing considering it involves her son. “Ralph was pointing out corrections to some science show on the History Channel the other night when you went to sleep early. He fell asleep on me, so I ended up watching one of their Christmas specials. It was…enlightening.”

Many people, including some of their co-workers, would probably tease him for compromising his stance on one of his many perfunctory statements about the important things in the world, but Paige only gives a small smile of approval before leaning in to kiss him again, this time without the mistletoe.

He hears Sylvester walk in then, a stammering presence in the midst of Happy and Toby’s continuing chaos.

He thinks of the paperwork waiting on Paige’s desk.

The case that Cabe has promised to bring to their door shortly.

The yelping shouts as Toby wraps himself around Happy in an attempt to get at the mistletoe that started the morning.

Ralph, at school and impatiently awaiting winter break so that he can dedicate more of his free time to one of their projects at the garage.

It’s warmth surrounding him, not just from the feeling of Paige’s hands moving up to his neck, but in the sappy, metaphorical sense he often still has to convince himself to believe in.

He and Paige break away from each other and he holds her hand, an impulse of feeling the moment that he knows makes her happy. He’s been comfortable being touched by Paige for a very long time, but he finds himself working to be more comfortable with returning the gestures every day. She laces their fingers together gently, lightly tugging him along to the hub of activity.

Walter thinks it’s fitting somehow, as they stand in a circle looking at what was once mistletoe, that they’d all be brought together by crowding around a smoking pile of Christmas tradition.


End file.
